NEWS

Comedian Jo Koy Insists on All-New Material for Each Tour

Jo Koy is trying to catch up on sleep.
It’s been this way for a year, and there’s no end in sight for the comedian.

“I’m going to have the longest week ever,” he says in a recent phone interview. “I always call work the traveling I do – when the flights are delayed and driving to and from the airport – that’s the work, and that’s what tires me out. When I’m on stage, I come alive.”

Cover Story: Don’t Get Comedian Jo Koy Started About Paying Dues

If you take a long and winding road way up into the tree-lined North Hollywood hills, you will arrive at a meandering driveway lined with big, fancy cars. You will park your car and you will venture into a charming bungalow replete with pool, a basketball court and a stunning view. That’s where you’ll find Jo Koy living the dream.

It’s probably the only time a shopping mall in Winnipeg will be compared to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport in 1964, but for Filipino-American comic Jo Koy, the two weren’t that far off this week.

“I went to the mall … I felt like the Beatles when they came to the States. That’s how I felt, like when I saw all that old footage of the Beatles coming to the States. Everybody was just bombarding them,” said Koy.

Jo Koy is a comedian, not a hula dancer, but his impression of the hula was as kolohe as the real thing Sunday evening as he opened the first of an unprecedented 11 sold-out performances by a single entertainer in the Blaisdell Concert Hall. Koy’s faux hula was just one example of the diversity of his repertoire. Koy sang bits and pieces of R&B hits from the 1990s, demonstrated how he used to entertain his mother’s friends — at her insistence — with his version of Michael Jackson’s moonwalk.

From Stand-Up Comedy to Podcasts, Jo Koy Does it All

Comedy fans hear about stars who start from humble beginnings, and that’s definitely true of Jo Koy. Starting out in a coffeehouse in Las Vegas, the Washington state native quickly made a name for himself and is now a top live attraction. Koy performs on Nov. 17 at Silver Legacy.

Koy was born Joseph Glenn Herbert in 1971. The stage name Jo Koy is a nickname he had growing up as a Filipino-American, and his family life often figures into this stand-up routines.

Pollstar with Jo Koy

Jo Koy could be working for a casino resort now instead of headlining its stage – and then some – had he not followed his dream and dropped out of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to pursue stand-up comedy.

It hasn’t hurt to have the support of people like Chelsea Handler and Adam Carolla from an early stage, either.

He’s made the transition from Las Vegas coffeehouses to an upcoming eight-night run at Honolulu’s 2,180-capacity Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall – with talks for up to three additional dates underway at press time.

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BIO

Jo Koy has come a long way from his modest beginnings at a Las Vegas coffee house. As one of today’s vastly growing stand-up comedians, Koy sells-out comedy clubs & theaters across the nation with his infectious, explosive energy onstage. The comedian pulls inspiration from his family, specifically his son that inspires humor across all boundaries.

This year, the comedian broke a record for the most tickets sold by a single artist at The Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu with 11 sold-out shows and over 23,000 tickets. In 2018, the comedian will launch the Break The Mold tour.

Today, the comedian tours across the world and can be heard as a weekly guest on the popular podcast, The Adam Carolla Show. Koy also hosts the weekly podcast, The Koy Pond on Podcast One. Additionally, Koy can be seen on Kevin Hart’s & Lionsgate’s platform LaughOutLoud.com as the host of the non-scripted series Inglorious Pranksters. For more info on the podcast and tour dates, please visit: Jokoy.com.

In 2005, Koy had the “opportunity of a lifetime,” when he performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He became one of a select few comics to receive a standing ovation on the show.

Since then, Koy has had two highly rated and successful comedy specials on Comedy Central, Don’t Make Him Angry and Lights Out. In 2017, Koy released his latest and 3rd stand-up special, Jo Koy: Live from Seattle as a Netflix Original.